Many bumblebee species have experienced severe population declines in response to the use of intensive land management practices throughout the UK and western Europe during the latter half of the twentieth century. The loss of wildflower-rich unimproved lowland grasslands has been particularly detrimental and, as a result, in the UK two bumblebee species are now extinct, seven are listed on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), and only six extant species remain common and ubiquitous. Populations of the rarer species are often fragmented and restricted to isolated areas, such as the crofting regions of northwest Scotland, in which the use of intensive farming practices has remained relatively limited. Consequently, in this study I primarily focus on the conservation of B. distinguendus and B. muscorum, two of the UK’s rarest species which have strongholds in the Outer Hebrides. In this region crofting is the dominant form of agriculture, and is traditionally typified by small-scale mixed livestock production accompanied by rotational cropping activities. With the use of very few artificial inputs, traditional crofting activities are environmentally sensitive and promote the diverse wildflower assemblages characteristic of the machair which provide suitable forage for bumblebees. However, the changing demographic structure of the islands, in conjunction with a range of other socio-economic factors, is resulting in the adoption of more intensive land management practices by crofters and changing the nature of the crofted landscape. These changes are likely to have a detrimental impact on the rare bumblebee populations that rely on crofting to provide suitable foraging habitats. Neglecting to examine the socio-economic issues behind the decline in crofting activities, and failure to develop a means of making the system economically viable and sustainable, is likely to reduce the effectiveness of any bumblebee conservation measures introduced in the region. Through my research I address this socio-ecological problem by taking an interdisciplinary approach, and combine the two disciplines of ecology and economics to find a way to ensure crofting is sustainable whilst promoting sympathetic land management practices to aid bumblebee conservation. The results of my research demonstrate that current croft land management practices do not support high abundances of foraging bumblebees in the Outer Hebrides, and that sheep grazing during the summer has a particularly negative impact on bumblebee abundance on croft land. My research also highlights the importance of non-agricultural habitats for foraging long-tongued bumblebee species in agricultural landscapes. Grazing management can promote bumblebee abundance, with cattle grazing providing a valuable foraging habitat for short-tongued bumblebees in southwest England. Therefore, to conserve bumblebees in agricultural landscapes the type of farming system needs to be taken into account in developing grazing management regimes, whilst non-agricultural habitats need to be integrated into local land management plans to ensure the provision of forage for bumblebees throughout the flight period. The outputs of the ecological-economic models show that compensation payments are not always required to encourage beneficial land management practices to enhance bumblebee populations in crofted areas. However, crofting is a marginal farming system that is heavily influenced by socio-economic factors, and this should be taken into consideration in the development of future agricultural policy for the region.

Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de um instrumento de apoio à gestão territorial, denominado Banco de Dados Geográficos – BDG, constituído de uma base de dados georreferenciadas, de um sistema de gerenciamento de banco de dados, de um sistema de informação geográfica – SIG e de um simulador de redes neurais artificiais – SRNA. O roteiro metodológico adotado permitiu a transposição do Detalhamento da Metodologia para Execução do Zoneamento Ecológico-Econômico pelos Estados da Amazônia Legal para um modelo conceitual materializado no BDG, que serviu de suporte para a criação de uma base de dados geográficos, na qual utilizou-se os conceitos de geo-campos e geo-objetos para modelagem das entidades geográficas definidas. Através deste ambiente computacional foram realizados procedimentos de correção e refinamento dos dados do meio físico e sócio-econômicos, de interpretação de imagens de satélite e análises e combinações dos dados, que permitiram definir unidades básicas de informação do território, a partir das quais foram geradas as sínteses referentes à potencialidade social e econômica, à sustentabilidade do ambiente, aos subsídios para ordenação do território, incluindo orientações à gestão do território na área de estudo localizada no sudoeste do estado de Rondônia. Sobre os dados do meio físico, foram utilizadas duas técnicas de análise geográfica: álgebra de mapas e rede neural artificial, que produziram cenários relativos à vulnerabilidade natural à erosão. A análise das matrizes de erros obtidas da tabulação cruzada entre os cenários, revelou uma boa exatidão global (acima de 90%) entre os cenários obtidos através da modelagem via álgebra de mapas e via rede neural artificial e, uma exatidão global regular (em torno de 60%), quando foram comparados os cenários obtidos via álgebra de mapas e via rede neural artificial com o cenário obtido através de procedimentos manuais. / This work presents the development of a tool to support the land management called Geographical Data Base (GDB) formed by a georrefered data base, a data base management system (DBMS), a geographic information system (GIS) and an artificial neural net simulator (ANNS). The methodological approach allowed the conceptual modelling of the methodology of the ZEE (Ecological-Economic Zoning) institutional program within GDB, using both field and object concepts, in which the geographic entities were modelled. Using this computacional framework both natural and socio-economic data were corrected and improved, and also procedures of satellite image interpretation using image processing techniques, of analysis and data manipulation using GIS tools, were accomplished. These procedures allowed to define basic units of mapping and to get the following synthesis for the study area located in State of Rondonia: social potenciality, environmental vulnerability, environmental sustentability, land management maps, and guidelines about land management. With the abiotic and biotic data, two different geographical inference methods were used to produce the environmental vulnerability map: a) the common Map Algebra approach and b) an Artificial Neural Network approach – as a technique to deal with the non-linearities involved in inferencial processes. Error matrices were computed from cross tabulation among different scenaries obtained from those inference methods. A good global accuracy (over 90%) was obtained when ANN and Map Algebra scenaries were compared. Medium global accuracies (around 60%) were obtained when ANN and Map Algebra were compared with scenaries obtained by manual procedures.

Dissertação(mestrado)-Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geografia, Instituto de Ciências Humanas e da Informação, 2009. / Submitted by Caroline Silva (krol_bilhar@hotmail.com) on 2012-07-03T21:47:33Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PROPOSTA DE ZONEAMENTO ECOLÓGICO ECONÔMICO.pdf: 3095293 bytes, checksum: 451545eb4c002d6fa936ec1ba51ff3e2 (MD5) / Rejected by Sabrina Andrade(sabrinabeatriz@ibest.com.br), reason: Por favor, colocar o Disponível em: < >. Acesso em: on 2012-07-03T22:02:07Z (GMT) / Submitted by Caroline Silva (krol_bilhar@hotmail.com) on 2012-07-03T22:07:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PROPOSTA DE ZONEAMENTO ECOLÓGICO ECONÔMICO.pdf: 3095293 bytes, checksum: 451545eb4c002d6fa936ec1ba51ff3e2 (MD5) / Rejected by Sabrina Andrade(sabrinabeatriz@ibest.com.br), reason: on 2012-07-03T22:30:36Z (GMT) / Submitted by Caroline Silva (krol_bilhar@hotmail.com) on 2012-07-05T22:42:09Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PROPOSTA DE ZONEAMENTO ECOLÓGICO ECONÔMICO.pdf: 3095293 bytes, checksum: 451545eb4c002d6fa936ec1ba51ff3e2 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Bruna Vieira(bruninha_vieira@ibest.com.br) on 2012-08-04T00:05:52Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 PROPOSTA DE ZONEAMENTO ECOLÓGICO ECONÔMICO.pdf: 3095293 bytes, checksum: 451545eb4c002d6fa936ec1ba51ff3e2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-08-04T00:05:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PROPOSTA DE ZONEAMENTO ECOLÓGICO ECONÔMICO.pdf: 3095293 bytes, checksum: 451545eb4c002d6fa936ec1ba51ff3e2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / No Brasil, o planejamento ambiental está previsto na Política Nacional de Meio Ambiente e nos Códigos Estaduais e Municipais de Meio Ambiente. No estado do Rio Grande do Sul, o licenciamento ambiental municipal é uma das formas que a Secretaria Estadual de Meio Ambiente (SEMA) vêm promovendo para melhorar o sistema ambiental do estado. Para se habilitarem ao licenciamento os municípios devem, entre outros instrumentos, elaborar os seus respectivos Planos Ambientais Municipais. Desde meados de 2007 o Laboratório de Oceanografia Geológica (LOG) da Universidade Federal de Rio Grande (FURG) em uma parceria com a Associação dos Municípios da Zona Sul(AZONASUL), vem auxiliando os municípios na condução desse processo. Um dos programas sugeridos nesses planos é a elaboração do Zoneamento Ecológico Econômico Municipal (ZEEM), visando um avanço na política ambiental local ao propor o ordenamento territorial dos municípios em bases socioambientais sustentáveis. Objetivando avançar na política ambiental de Pedras Altas – RS, município componente da AZONASUL, propõe-se nesta dissertação um exercício metodológico sobre o ZEEM em Pedras Altas. As informações necessárias e que possibilitarão a conclusão da proposta de zoneamento são provenientes dos diagnósticos ambiental, socioeconômico e institucional e foram formatadas em um banco de dados de um Sistema de Informações Geográficas (SIG). Esse procedimento, além de gerar informações de qualidade, permitiu o cruzamento automatizado dos diferentes temas utilizados, auxiliando o processo de zoneamento, alem de permitir ajustes e incorporação de mudanças de uma maneira rápida e automática. Como produto final ao cruzamento dos fatores ecológicos, econômicos e sociais gerados em ambiente SIG, foi possível propor 7 zonas ecológico econômicas com características próprias, ordenadas como zonas de consolidação, expansão, conservação e zonas de criticidade de gestão baixa, média e alta. / In Brazil, the environmental planning is predicted in the National Environmental Policy and in the Municipal and State Environmental Codes. In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the municipal environmental licensing is one of the ways the Secretaria Estadual de Meio Ambiente (SEMA) - which is the Environmental State Secretariat - has been promoting to improve the environmental system of the state. To be qualified to the licensing, cities and towns must, among other instruments, prepare their respective Municipal Environmental Plans. Since 2007, the Laboratório de Oceanografia Geológica (LOG) - that is, the Laboratory of Geological Oceanography - from Universidade Federal de Rio Grande (FURG) - the Federal University of Rio Grande - working together with the Associação dos Municípios da Zona Sul, also called AZONASUL, which refers to the Cities from the South Zone Association, has been helping the cities and towns to conduct this process. One of the suggested programs in these plans is the development of the MEEZ (Municipal Ecological Economic Zoning), aiming an advance in the local environmental policy when it proposes the territorial arrangement of the cities and towns in sustainable social environmental basis. In order to move forward in the environmental policy of Pedras Altas - RS, one of the members of AZONASUL, it is presented in this dissertation a methodological exercise about the MEEZ in Pedras Altas. The necessary information, which will make the conclusion of the zoning proposal possible, comes from the environmental, social-economical and institution diagnosis, and was compiled in a data bank of a Geographic Information System (GIS). This procedure, besides creating quality information, has allowed the automatized matching of the different used themes, helping the zoning process, and also permitting adjustments and changes in a fast and automatic way. As the final product of the matching of ecological, economical and social elements that were created in a GIS environment, it was possible to propose seven ecological economic zones with their own characteristics, put in order as zones of consolidation, expansion, conservation and zones of low, medium and high management criticism.

Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de um instrumento de apoio à gestão territorial, denominado Banco de Dados Geográficos – BDG, constituído de uma base de dados georreferenciadas, de um sistema de gerenciamento de banco de dados, de um sistema de informação geográfica – SIG e de um simulador de redes neurais artificiais – SRNA. O roteiro metodológico adotado permitiu a transposição do Detalhamento da Metodologia para Execução do Zoneamento Ecológico-Econômico pelos Estados da Amazônia Legal para um modelo conceitual materializado no BDG, que serviu de suporte para a criação de uma base de dados geográficos, na qual utilizou-se os conceitos de geo-campos e geo-objetos para modelagem das entidades geográficas definidas. Através deste ambiente computacional foram realizados procedimentos de correção e refinamento dos dados do meio físico e sócio-econômicos, de interpretação de imagens de satélite e análises e combinações dos dados, que permitiram definir unidades básicas de informação do território, a partir das quais foram geradas as sínteses referentes à potencialidade social e econômica, à sustentabilidade do ambiente, aos subsídios para ordenação do território, incluindo orientações à gestão do território na área de estudo localizada no sudoeste do estado de Rondônia. Sobre os dados do meio físico, foram utilizadas duas técnicas de análise geográfica: álgebra de mapas e rede neural artificial, que produziram cenários relativos à vulnerabilidade natural à erosão. A análise das matrizes de erros obtidas da tabulação cruzada entre os cenários, revelou uma boa exatidão global (acima de 90%) entre os cenários obtidos através da modelagem via álgebra de mapas e via rede neural artificial e, uma exatidão global regular (em torno de 60%), quando foram comparados os cenários obtidos via álgebra de mapas e via rede neural artificial com o cenário obtido através de procedimentos manuais. / This work presents the development of a tool to support the land management called Geographical Data Base (GDB) formed by a georrefered data base, a data base management system (DBMS), a geographic information system (GIS) and an artificial neural net simulator (ANNS). The methodological approach allowed the conceptual modelling of the methodology of the ZEE (Ecological-Economic Zoning) institutional program within GDB, using both field and object concepts, in which the geographic entities were modelled. Using this computacional framework both natural and socio-economic data were corrected and improved, and also procedures of satellite image interpretation using image processing techniques, of analysis and data manipulation using GIS tools, were accomplished. These procedures allowed to define basic units of mapping and to get the following synthesis for the study area located in State of Rondonia: social potenciality, environmental vulnerability, environmental sustentability, land management maps, and guidelines about land management. With the abiotic and biotic data, two different geographical inference methods were used to produce the environmental vulnerability map: a) the common Map Algebra approach and b) an Artificial Neural Network approach – as a technique to deal with the non-linearities involved in inferencial processes. Error matrices were computed from cross tabulation among different scenaries obtained from those inference methods. A good global accuracy (over 90%) was obtained when ANN and Map Algebra scenaries were compared. Medium global accuracies (around 60%) were obtained when ANN and Map Algebra were compared with scenaries obtained by manual procedures.

Orientador: Ademar Ribeiro Romeiro / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T17:45:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Garcia_JuniorRuiz_D.pdf: 6539061 bytes, checksum: 3299be86825d39bff0ed1420da87e665 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: A degradação do sistema natural ao longo do século XX pode ser caracterizada pela tendência ascendente e estreita relação com a escala física da atividade econômica, que demanda quantidades crescentes de recursos naturais, seja como fonte de insumos, seja como fonte para a absorção de resíduos. Desta forma, o que antes era considerado um bem ou serviço provido gratuitamente pelo sistema natural, por exemplo, água limpa, controle de enchentes, fertilidade do solo etc., no período recente está associado a custos crescentes. Neste contexto, a disponibilidade de recursos hídricos tornou-se objeto de constante preocupação por parte de diversos agentes públicos e privados. Essa preocupação resultou no desenvolvimento e na implantação de sistemas de gestão de bacias hidrográficas, cujo objetivo é promover o uso racional, a preservação e a melhoria da qualidade dos recursos hídricos. Em 1997, o Brasil instituiu a Política Nacional de Recursos Hídricos que reconheceu o valor econômico da água e autoriza a cobrança pelo direito de uso. Entretanto, a valoração e a precificação da água não se mostrou uma tarefa trivial para os Comitês de Bacias Hidrográficas. Ainda, a definição do "preço da água" no Brasil tem sido realizada de maneira arbitrária, onde o principal objetivo é alcançar o menor impacto possível na planilha de custos dos usuários. Outro aspecto peculiar da gestão hídrica é o tratamento isolado dos componentes do ecossistema, ignorando a interdependência ecossistêmica. Neste sentido, o principal objetivo deste trabalho é aplicar nas Bacias Hidrográficas do Alto Iguaçu e Afluentes do Alto Ribeira, localizadas na Região Metropolitana de Curitiba, novos procedimentos de valoração econômico-ecológica dos serviços ecossistêmicos responsáveis pela disposição de água de qualidade, visando subsidiar a construção de uma política de precificação da água, bem como o estabelecimento de esquemas de Pagamento por Serviços Ambientais (PSA's). A avaliação ecossistêmica realizada nas bacias hidrográficas com auxílio do InVEST Model mostrou que a recuperação do déficit de mata ciliar, adequação do uso das terras segundo sua aptidão agrícola e a adoção de práticas conservacionistas pelos produtores rurais poderia elevar a disponibilidade de água em 878 milhões de m³ ao ano, reduzir o consumo de água em 330 milhões de m³ ao ano, reduzir a perda de solo em quase 80 milhões de toneladas ao ano e elevar o estoque total de carbono em 36 milhões de toneladas, além de melhorar a qualidade da água. Em síntese, a intervenção em prol da melhoria da qualidade dos recursos hídricos também afetará o provimento de outros serviços ecossistêmicos, logo, a gestão de bacias hidrográficas não pode considerar de maneira isolada os componentes do ecossistema, mas o ecossistema como um todo / Abstract: The degradation of the natural system throughout the century XX can be characterized by the upward trend and close relationship with the scale of economic activity, which requires increasing amounts of natural resources as a source of inputs as a source for the absorption of waste. Thus, what was once considered a good or service provided free by the natural system, for example, freshwater, flood control, soil fertility, etc., in recent years is associated with rising costs. In this context, the availability of water has become an object of constant concern on the part of several public and private. This concern resulted in the development and deployment of watershed management, which aims to promote the rational use, preservation, and improvement of water of quality. In 1997, Brazil created the Política Nacional de Recursos Hídricos (National Policy of Water), which recognized the economic value of water and allow charging for the right use. However, the valuation process and pricing of water was not a trivial task for the Watershed Committees. The definition of "water price" in Brazil has been realized in an arbitrary manner in which the main criteria have been the least impact on cost spreadsheet users. Another peculiar aspect of water management is the treatment of isolated components of the ecosystem, ignoring the interdependence ecosystem. In this sense, the main objective of this research is applying in the Alto Iguaçu and Afluentes do Alto Ribeira Watersheds, located in Metropolitan Region of Curitiba, new procedures for ecological-economic valuation process of ecosystem services responsible for the supply of freshwater of quality, to support the establishment of a water pricing policy, as well as the establishment of Payment Environmental Services (PES) schemes. Ecosystem Assessment of the watersheds with support InVEST Model showed that the recovery of the riparian forest, adaptation of the land-use according to their use capacity or usability, and adoption of the conservation practices by farmers could increase the freshwater availability in 878 million cubic meters per year, reduce freshwater consumption in 330 million cubic meters per year, reduce the soil loss in almost 80 million tons per year, and raise the total carbon storage in 36 million tons, in addition to improving freshwater of quality. In summary, the intervention in improving the quality of supply water will also affect the provision of other ecosystem services, so the watershed management can not be considered in isolation of the components of the ecosystem, but the ecosystem as a whole / Doutorado / Desenvolvimento Economico, Espaço e Meio Ambiente / Doutor em Desenvolvimento Economico

O intenso processo de urbanização decorrente de um crescimento populacional acelerado da zona costeira paulista, região dotada de grande riqueza socioambiental, impõe desafios para a construção e implementação de políticas públicas que evitem ou mitiguem os impactos socioambientais negativos. Com vistas a ordenar esse desenvolvimento, foram criados os Planos de Gerenciamento Costeiro, inicialmente no âmbito federal na década de 80 e 90 e, posteriormente, no estado de São Paulo, em 1998. Inserido no conjunto de instrumentos existentes nesses planos, aquele de maior relevância é o Zoneamento Ecológico-Econômico (ZEE), que objetiva orientar o uso do solo em escala regional. No Litoral Norte paulista, o município de Ubatuba constitui um caso pertinente para o estudo da revisão do ZEE, em particular considerando o lugar de seu Conselho Municipal do Meio Ambiente (CMMA), composto por representantes do poder público e da sociedade civil organizada, neste processo. Essa região do litoral paulista, composta também por Caraguatatuba, Ilhabela e São Sebastião, possui um ZEE datado de 2004, que de acordo com as normas legais deve ser revisado a cada dez anos. Desse modo, a presente dissertação visa analisar o papel do CMMA nesse processo de revisão, observando que os conselhos de políticas públicas são entendidos como espaços promissores de aprofundamento democrático. / The intense urbanization process resulting from an accelerated population growth in the coastal zone of São Paulo, a region with great social and environmental wealth, poses challenges for the construction and implementation of public policies that avoid or mitigate negative social and environmental impacts. In order to order this development, the Coastal Management Plans were created, initially at the federal level in the 1980s and 1990s and later in the state of São Paulo in 1998. Included in the set of instruments in these plans, relevance is the Ecological-Economic Zoning (ZEE), which aims to guide land use on a regional scale. In the North Coast of São Paulo, the municipality of Ubatuba is a relevant case for the study of the review of the EEZ, in particular considering the place of its Municipal Environmental Council (CMMA), composed of representatives of public power and organized civil society, in this process. This region of the coast of São Paulo, which also includes Caraguatatuba, Ilhabela and São Sebastião, has a ZEE dating from 2004, which according to the legal norms should be reviewed every ten years. Thus, the present dissertation aims at analyzing the CMMA\'s role in this revision process, noting that the public policy councils are understood as promising spaces for democratic deepening.

No description available.

O intenso processo de urbanização decorrente de um crescimento populacional acelerado da zona costeira paulista, região dotada de grande riqueza socioambiental, impõe desafios para a construção e implementação de políticas públicas que evitem ou mitiguem os impactos socioambientais negativos. Com vistas a ordenar esse desenvolvimento, foram criados os Planos de Gerenciamento Costeiro, inicialmente no âmbito federal na década de 80 e 90 e, posteriormente, no estado de São Paulo, em 1998. Inserido no conjunto de instrumentos existentes nesses planos, aquele de maior relevância é o Zoneamento Ecológico-Econômico (ZEE), que objetiva orientar o uso do solo em escala regional. No Litoral Norte paulista, o município de Ubatuba constitui um caso pertinente para o estudo da revisão do ZEE, em particular considerando o lugar de seu Conselho Municipal do Meio Ambiente (CMMA), composto por representantes do poder público e da sociedade civil organizada, neste processo. Essa região do litoral paulista, composta também por Caraguatatuba, Ilhabela e São Sebastião, possui um ZEE datado de 2004, que de acordo com as normas legais deve ser revisado a cada dez anos. Desse modo, a presente dissertação visa analisar o papel do CMMA nesse processo de revisão, observando que os conselhos de políticas públicas são entendidos como espaços promissores de aprofundamento democrático. / The intense urbanization process resulting from an accelerated population growth in the coastal zone of São Paulo, a region with great social and environmental wealth, poses challenges for the construction and implementation of public policies that avoid or mitigate negative social and environmental impacts. In order to order this development, the Coastal Management Plans were created, initially at the federal level in the 1980s and 1990s and later in the state of São Paulo in 1998. Included in the set of instruments in these plans, relevance is the Ecological-Economic Zoning (ZEE), which aims to guide land use on a regional scale. In the North Coast of São Paulo, the municipality of Ubatuba is a relevant case for the study of the review of the EEZ, in particular considering the place of its Municipal Environmental Council (CMMA), composed of representatives of public power and organized civil society, in this process. This region of the coast of São Paulo, which also includes Caraguatatuba, Ilhabela and São Sebastião, has a ZEE dating from 2004, which according to the legal norms should be reviewed every ten years. Thus, the present dissertation aims at analyzing the CMMA\'s role in this revision process, noting that the public policy councils are understood as promising spaces for democratic deepening.

This study had two main objectives. The first objective was to determine the factors that influence rural households’ labour allocation and supply decisions for competing livelihood activities, including wetland activities. The second objective was to: develop an ecological-economic model establishing the linkages between the economic and ecological components in a wetland system and apply the model to evaluate the impacts of alternative wetland management and policy regimes on wetland functioning; and supply ecosystem services and economic well-being. To achieve the first objective an agricultural household framework was used. The reduced form labour use and supply equations for wetland products and agricultural grain, derived from optimising the agricultural household model, were estimated jointly using a seemingly unrelated regression model. The model was fitted to data collected from a survey of 143 households in a wetland system in the Limpopo basin of South Africa. Results showed that poor households, most of whom are female-headed households, have less capacity to participate in off-farm employment and rely heavily on farm and wetland activities for their livelihood. This implies that environmental protection policies that limit access to the wetland resources will deepen poverty as the poor will suffer more from deprivation of resources, which play a key role as a livelihoods safety net for the poor. This suggests that in order to enhance the sustainable management of wetlands there is need to identify and promote local level wetland management practices that allow the poor to use wetlands to enhance their economic well-being with minimum adverse effects on wetland ecological conditions instead of adopting strict wetland protection measures. In addition, there is also a need to broaden the opportunities for the poor to diversify into off-farm livelihood activities. This minimises the risks of income fluctuations associated with farm and natural resource-base livelihood sources and therefore provides the necessary positive incentives for wetland conservation and sustainable use. Better access to education is an important instrument for enhancing the poor’s ability to diversify into off-farm livelihood options. These results suggest that wetland conservation and sustainable use has to be integrated with the broader rural poverty reduction initiatives such as: improved access to education; investment in irrigation infrastructure; and improving access to markets. Results also indicate that a household’s exogenous income and wealth status (asset endowment) enhance farm production whilst reducing dependence on wetland products for livelihood. The government should pursue policy measures that reduce rural household liquidity constraints and enhance investment in productive assets (e.g. improving rural household access to credit and off-farm income opportunities) to boost farm production and enhance wetland conservation and sustainable use. To achieve the second objective the study developed a dynamic ecological-economic model. The model is based on the system dynamics framework to capture the multiple interactions and feedback effects between ecological and economic systems. The application of the model in simulating policy scenarios suggests that wetland ecosystem services (crop production and natural resource harvesting) are interlinked with trade-offs involved through their competition for labour, water and land resources. Policy scenario simulation results showed that diversifying livelihoods out of agriculture simultaneously improves economic well-being and enhances wetland conservation. Pure conservation strategies impose significant losses in the economic welfare of the local population unless supported by diversification of livelihood sources. The simulation results also show that the development of a competitive marketing system for harvested biomass products increases returns to wetland biomass products relative to that of wetland grain and it reduces conversion of wetlands to agriculture. Simulation of the predicted reduction in annual precipitation due to climate change in southern Africa showed that climate change is likely to accelerate the conversion of wetlands to agriculture, confirming the important role wetlands play in managing climate variability in smallholder agricultural systems. Government policies that support livelihood diversification into off-farm livelihood opportunities and improve the capacity of the rural poor to adapt to climate change, especially droughts, are critical for wetland conservation and sustainable use. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / unrestricted

(I) Background. Conflicts emerge when populations of protected species grow to sizes that cause noticeable economic damage - like in the case of the fish consuming Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis). One possible approach for reconciliation is to regulate the size of the population in question. In doing so, regulation strategies have to meet multiple targets: 1) population size has to be reduced; 2) the viability of the population has to be maintained; 3) strategies have to adhere to the available budget. This thesis focuses on the regulation of populations that are structured into two groups - breeders and mature non-breeders. The pool of non-breeders provides a reserve for the breeders, whereby they may enable the population to resist regulation attempts. (II) Aims. 1) Development of a modeling framework and a conceptual model to provide an understanding of the functioning and effect of the population structure induced by non-breeders on population dynamics in a fluctuating environment. 2) Uncover the relation between non-breeder characteristics and the performance of regulation strategies. 3) Application of the modeling approach to the regulation of the Cormorant in order to evaluate the results from the conceptual model and find statements to support decisions on management strategies. (III) Methods. A conceptual stochastic time-discrete model, based on the logistic map with overlapping generations, is developed. Different types of threshold regulation strategies are applied. Strategies differed in which part of the model was affected by regulation. Resulting rules from the conceptual model are tested by applying them to a second age-structured model of a cormorant population, parametrized with data gained from a cormorant colony in Denmark. Analyzes of this model focus on the ecological-economic performance of regulation strategies and result in rankings of regulation options. Regulation performance is judged from different economic perspectives.